Stay Tuned: Inside the mind of man’s best friend on ‘Downward Dog’

Tuesday

May 30, 2017 at 11:56 AMMay 30, 2017 at 11:56 AM

Melissa Crawley More Content Now

“Downward Dog” is about a dog named Martin and his human named Nan. The conceit is that Martin speaks to the camera, sharing his thoughts on their relationship. The writing is clever and Martin’s confessionals are balanced with scenes of him being a regular dog so the talking animal device doesn’t feel silly. You don’t have to be a dog lover to enjoy the show’s sweet and smart take on the bond between people and animals.

Nan (Allison Tolman) is navigating a personal and professional life that is not everything she hoped it would be. Her boss is difficult. Her love life is messy. The first episode establishes the pressure that Nan feels between her work life and her private life and how that pressure affects the relationship she has with Martin. Nan struggles with loving and accepting herself and the show stresses the unconditional love that dogs have for their owners as a way for Nan to develop into the person she wants to be. No one accepts you for who you are more than a beloved pet and the series highlights this theme.

But as much as Martin adores Nan, he struggles with understanding how he matters. His commentary is philosophical and humorously self-centered. When Nan starts feeding him past the agreed upon hour of 7 a.m., he tells us he doesn’t “feel very respected as a being.”

Unlike Nan, who Martin worries does nothing “remotely productive” (his evidence is that she leaves and returns in the same car every day), Martin has a lot of responsibility and he’s feeling unappreciated. He tells us in episode one: “I don’t think she has any idea like, how packed my days are … The fact that I need 14 hours of sleep is not something I should have to feel bad about.” Dealing with “threats” that Nan is unaware of, including deliveries and a cat who is an “emotional terrorist,” Martin is frustrated: “I feel like I just get zero help.” But there’s hope. According to Martin, Nan “is making really good progress” in the “couples therapy” that is dog training class.

The show also has fun with the world of dog ownership and the intensity that sometimes goes along with it, as pet owners get judgmental about the actions of other pet owners. When Nan takes Martin to behavior training because he has chewed up several pairs of her shoes, the trainer asks her: “Why has Martin brought you here today?” When she answers that she brought him because of the chewing issue, a participant in the class disagrees and points out Nan’s real problem: “Maybe she’s so focused on her dog that she can’t even see how her own dysfunction is affecting the situation.”

Having a dog share his thoughts imagines what pets think about their bond to their person. Martin sees his as a relationship of equals, which makes his perceptions and observations funny. But this idea is also designed to make us see ourselves in Martin. It’s an ambitious premise that the show handles with skill.

“Downward Dog” is on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC.

-- Melissa Crawley is the author of “Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television’s ‘The West Wing’” and the recently released “The American Television Critic.” She has a Ph.D. in media studies and is a member of the Television Critics Association. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at staytuned@outlook.com or follow her on Twitter at @MelissaCrawley.